On Cleaning Coffee Pots, Makers, Etc.

Text:  Luke 21:5-19

Theme:  "On Cleaning Coffee Pots, Makers, Etc."

26th Sunday after Pentecost

November 17, 2013

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

 

+In the Name of Jesus+

⁵ Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, ⁶ “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

⁷ “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

⁸ He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. ⁹ When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”

¹⁰ Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

¹² “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. ¹³ And so you will bear testimony to me. ¹⁴ But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. ¹⁵ For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. ¹⁶ You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ Everyone will hate you because of me. ¹⁸ But not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹ Stand firm, and you will win life.

 

 

When it comes to what is said from this pulpit on Sunday, what happens on the previous Monday is very important.  It's on Monday that I look at the four readings slated for the coming Sunday.  I read them until one of them jumps out at me, and I usually end up using that as a text for the sermon. Then, during the week, I meditate on the text and I study the text; I take a look at what the commentators have said.  At some point, a theme emerges and I form an outline in my mind.  Then I flesh out that outline.  Occasionally, I stick a humorous anecdote in there, and you respond with muffled laughter.  Then, when I acknowledge that the joke bombed, you burst out with loud guffaws! 

 

But seriously, the task that God has called me to do -- through all of you! -- is always a happy challenge.   I continue to be amazed at the privilege and honor that it is.  I apologize for the many times I have been unclear in the points I'm trying to get across, but I can assure you that I always endeavor to look for God's Word of law that, in the first place, convicts us of our sin, and also for God's Word of Gospel -- that power of God unto salvation -- that announces to us that we are forgiven and dearly loved children.

 

In my attempt this morning to do just that, I'm going to draw on all three readings you have heard.  In today's Scriptures you really have a study in contrast.  First off, in the Old Testament Reading from Isaiah that Dr. Linder read, we are all loaded up with beautiful promises from God.  "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth," says the Lord.  "Be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create," God says.  Weeping and crying will be no more. The wolf and the lamb will feed together.  Nothing will harm you and nothing will destroy you. 

 

I'm all in!  My soul and my spirit respond to that and say:  "God, bring it on!  Hurry up!  Make it happen.   I trust these promises you've made, and I'm chomping at the bit for them to come true!  I've seen harm and destruction; I've known weeping and crying. You're telling me that there will come a time when these things won't happen anymore, and, for that, I am grateful.  Give me grace to wait patiently.

 

But now, in today's Gospel, I find that my excitement over these glorious promises is tempered; my anticipation is lessened-- and that's to put it mildly.  The words of Jesus,  recorded in that selection from Luke's gospel, do not make for happy reading.  Before we get to that supremely wonderful new heaven and new earth, the end of the earth we live in now is not going to be a picnic.  Among other things, Jesus said that "the end will not come right away."  Besides that, some are going to try and deceived you.  They're going to engage in what we today call "fear-mongering."  He goes on to say that "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.  On top of that, Christians are going to suffer for their beliefs. 

 

My friends, I look around at events happening in our world and it becomes pretty clear to me that Jesus wasn't kidding.  So here I am -- here we all are! -- gifted with these tremendous promises of a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no harm and no destruction and no weeping and no tears.  We are told to rejoice and be glad about that.  But just when we're about to sing our "Hallelujah", we hear Jesus talk about nations and kingdoms at war, increasing persecution of God's people, earthquakes, pestilences, portents from heaven. 

 

These readings are like a theological stun gun.  We're joyful; we're afraid.  We're excited;  we're scared. We don't quite know what to think, to feel, or to do.

 

This is the point in my sermon outline where I insert a little story.  It's a true story.  It's an experience that someone had.  I'm not going to mention any names in order to protect anonymity.  After all, there's a good reason why they call it "Alcoholics Anonymous." 

 

A member of AA had enjoyed a few years of continuous sobriety.  Her life had changed completely.  She was sober and serene.  Good things were happening.  She had gotten a sponsor who helped her go through the "12 steps" of Alcoholics Anonymous.  It wasn't easy, but, with help, she had not taken a drink for quite awhile.

 

Then something happened.  Her boyfriend broke up with her.  She never saw it coming, and she was devastated. She was shocked, sorrowful, upset, and enraged.  He had supported her, and she depended on him.  She had supported him too.  Now it was all over, and she seriously considered numbing the pain with alcohol and overlook all those months and years of continuous sobriety.  But she did the right thing, though.  She called her sponsor. She needed to talk to another recovering alcoholic.  The thoughts and feelings were coming out in rapid-fire succession overtthe phone.  She didn't want the sponsor to come to her house, and she didn't want to go to her sponsor's house.  Instead, she felt like she should go to the AA meeting house.  So that's what they did.

 

She arrived at the location, and her sponsor pulled up in her car moments later.  But instead of going inside, her sponsor went behind her car and opened the trunk.  She started getting stuff out.  To begin with, she pulled out a couple of mops.  Then came a basket filled with clean rags.  Finally, she unloaded a box with various and sundry cleaning products. 

 

The lady whose boyfriend broke up with her was confused.  She thought she was going to sit down and talk about her problems with a sympathetic ear.  Her sponsor said, "I know what you're thinking.  We'll talk about the situation, but we're going to do it while cleaning the coffee pots and coffee makers.  Then we're going to wash down the tables, and, finally, we're going to mop the floors. You told me long ago that you would do what I suggested in order to stay sober.  So this is what we're going to do."

 

So the both of them began working and talking.  They talked and worked and worked and talked.  After a couple of hours, the coffee makers and the coffee pots and the tables and the floors were squeaky clean.  When it was all said and done, the recovering alcoholic whose boyfriend broke up with her amazingly felt better.  It was a like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "One more thing I want you to do," said the sponsor.  "People are going to wonder who cleaned all this stuff up. Take a look!  This meeting house never looked better.  What I want you to do is actually to not do something.  I don't want you to say that you cleaned it up.  This will remain anonymous." 

 

What this story illustrates is the encouragement we are given in the reading from 2 Thessalonians that Dr. Linder read.  Paul the apostle wrote to the Christians at Thessalonica and said:  "As for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good."

All of us, in one way or another, have had high hopes in life. When some or even most of them do not materialize on our terms, we are devastated.  In addition, we can, likewise, hear these fantastic promises of a new heaven and a new earth with its promised way of life so wonderful that we can't even find the words to describe it.  But then we learn that, before all that, there are going to be some very tough times. 

 

When supreme joy and anticipation get mixed with fear and trepidation, it can stun a person; it can stun a congregation. It can pull a life and a church's life out of gear and into neutral. It can put on the brakes when God would have us on the go! When the Scriptures give us both high joy and painful honesty as they do today, when life does the same thing as it will again, remember what that AA sponsor did.  She got out the cleaning products. Remember the encouragement of St. Paul:  "Never tire of doing what is good." 

 

Thanks be to God -- who gives us promises of great joy.  Thanks be to God -- who gives us honesty, even it's painful.  Thanks be to God -- who, through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, has saved us. Thanks be to God -- who encourages us to never tire of doing what is good.  The recovering alcoholic actually felt better. You and I can too.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.